Vegan Fajitas with Mushrooms and Roasted Sweet Potato

A little Mexican spice is a great way to brighten up a Monday evening!  Last night for dinner we had delicious Vegan Fajitas, or Burritos, or whatever you like to call them.

Here is what we put in them, first in pictures and then the recipe follows.

Mushrooms in Mexican Spice Mix and Roasted Sweet Potato Strips.

A smudge of Tomato Salsa and creamy Avocado.

Baby Spinach leaves and Rocket, topped with the mushrooms and sweet potato.

Rolled and ready to eat (I had two of these and dear husband had 3).

Ingredients:

Spice Mix:
1 teaspoon each of:
- Ground Chilli
- Smoked Paprika
- Salt (or powdered vegetable stock)
- Cornflour
- Castor Sugar
½ teaspoon each of:
- Ground Cumin
- Cayenne Pepper

Olive oil for cooking
1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes (That is Kumera for the Kiwis).
 4 large field mushrooms
1 small onion, sliced.
1 clove of garlic, crushed
Salad greens (baby spinach leaves and rocket works really well)
1 small avocado - mashed
Salsa (I used salsa from a jar last night to save time but if you are not as lazy as me you could make your own).
4-6 Tortillas (Wraps)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180^oC.
2. Cut sweet potato into halves or thirds, and then into wedges.  Place in baking tray.  Drizzle generously with olive oil and toss.  Bake for 45+ minutes depending on how caramalized you like your roast veggies.
3. Combine all the spice mix ingredients in a plastic bag (eg freezer bag) and toss.  You can use more or less chilli and cayenne pepper depending on how hot you like your Mexican food.
4. Slice mushrooms into strips (not too thin).  Put in the bag with the spice mix and toss gently until all the strips are well coated.
5. When your sweet potatoes are nearly done, saute the onions in a little olive oil.  Add mushrooms and garlic and fry over a medium heat until the mushrooms are well done.
6.  Assemble the fajitas as show in the photos above and enjoy!!

Chickpea Piccata

This dish is soooo good.  Thank you once again dear Isa.  One of my favorite comfort foods (creamy mashed potato) all fancied up and tasting devine.  My taste buds are very happy right now.  And it is very simple and quick to prepare.  This is definitely going on regular rotation in our house.

You can find the recipe here on the Post Punk Kitchen web site: Chickpea Picatta.
(As per Isa's spelling of Picatta).

I served this with lots of rocket (the recipe called for arugula which I had never heard of but a quick google revealed that it is rocket.)  I made a half serve of Thermomix mashed potato - so creamy!  That's 500gm of potatoes.  I used Vitasoy Calciplus milk and plenty of Nutelex for the potato. 

Dear husband was a bit dubious about the flavor of the capers diffusing through the whole dish so I left them out and then used them to garnish.  This worked really well.  I sprinkled a little of the brine from the capers over mine along with a drizzle of truffle oil.  Heaven!

According to the recipe this should serve 4 but actually dear husband and I managed to polish it off for one meal.  This amount would make a great entree for 4 people, but I can't see it stretching to 4 adult sized mains.  I can't wait to make this next time we have an omnivore over for dinner. 

Sun Dried Tomato and White Bean Dip

I love dip.  I love eating it with crunchy raw veggies and experiencing the different combinations of flavor and texture.  There are lots of vegan versions of Sun Dried Tomato dip around.  I have tried a few and below is my take on it - adjusted to suit my taste buds.  This recipe can be easily adjusted to suit your taste buds and mood.  You can add olives, fresh herbs, leave out the vinegar - whatever!

Ingredients
1 clove crushed garlic
1 cup cooked Cannelloni Beans (rinse and drain if from a tin)
1 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, drain off most of the oil (although I wish I had not drained quite so much)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt or powdered vegetable stock
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients except the pine nuts in a food processor and process until very smooth.  Adjust salt/sugar/vinegar to taste. 
2. Add most of the pine nuts and process for about 5-10 seconds so they are combined and a little chopped but not too smooth.
3. Transfer to the bowl you plan to serve the dip in.  Garnish with the remaining pine nuts.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Serve with a variety of vegetable crudites.  Is also very nice spread on fresh or toasted bread and in sandwiches.

When I finished making this dip yesterday I thought it had the perfect texture.  But after refrigerating for a couple of hours it was a little to thick for my liking.  Next time I will add a little extra oil from the Sun Dried Tomatoes to keep it more "dip-able", but you could add a little water instead if you wanted to avoid the extra oil.

Moroccan Quinoa Salad

It seems like such a long time ago that I made this dish.  I had a big assignment due and so that has taken precidence over blogging for the last few weeks.  Although the assignment was handed in 4 days ago and I am only just now sitting down to post this recipe.  Mmmm, maybe "to busy with study" was just a lame excuse!

For my 3rd new vegan recipe for 2012 I tried decided it was time to try out Quinoa.  I still think of this as Quin-oh-ah in my head before translating to Keen-wah to say out loud.  I browsed recipe sites and books and found lots of delicious sounding recipes before I settled on Moroccan Quinoa Salad. 

So colorful

I wanted to find a summery salad to have for a lovely lunch when my mum came to visit.  You can find the recipe over here at the 20 Minute Supper Club.  It is not a vegan recipe site so be warned.  But there are lots of vegan recipes.  Click on "Special Diets" and you will find that Vegan is a category.  Which just goes to prove how special us vegans are.

I was not able to source the black beans in time so I used kidney beans instead.  I will hunt down black beans and try it again soon as I am sure it will be delicious with black beans.

I served it with a garden salad.  And we had hummus with veggie crudites on the side.  Mum brought over a delicious home made herb scone which went perfectly with the meal.  A lot of food for just 3 people - dear husband, mum and I!  So there was plenty left over for the next few days.

A delicious, satisfying, healthy, summer lunch.

Quinoa is a great addition to a vegan diet.  This was my first attempt and admittedly it came out just a touch gluggy - though that didn't spoil our enjoyment of it. In its natural state Quinoa has a coating of saponins that have to be rinsed off - they are unpalatable and can be an irritant.  However if you buy a box of quinoa it is likely to already have been rinsed. 

I have already made this salad again with a few changes and transformed it into a "Mediterranean Quinoa Salad".  I did a much better job with the quinoa the second time around - a bit less rinsing (I am sure the box of organic quinoa I used was already rinsed), bit less water, a little longer cooking at a lower temperature.  It came out fantastically fluffy!  I left out the cummin, reduced the oil and added balsamic.  I left out the mint and coriander and instead added fresh basil.  I used borlotti beans and added a few extra olives.  Yum!  I think the possibilities are endless - you could use the Moroccan Quinoa Salad as a starting point and make all sorts of substitutions and additions.

In Veganomicon it says that eating Quinoa regularly will have you elevated to a level 7 vegan in no time!  Well, I am not quite sure what a level 7 vegan is but I instantly thought of this classic Simpsons moment:

Not a great quality clip - the only Simpsons clips that seem to be allowed to stay on Youtube are ones that people have videoed of their TV playing the Simpson.  What's with that??  How does that promote the Simpsons brand?

Chipotle Chilli with Sweet Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts

The great thing about this "new vegan recipe every week" challenge is that it is leading to me try new ingredients and flavor combinations.  This week I had the pleasure of meeting chipotle for the first time. 

This weeks recipe was suggested by my partner in this weekly-new-vegan-recipe venture: Chipotle Chilli with Sweet Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts.  The recipe is on the Post Punk Kitchen web site.  So I can share it with you without having to type out the recipe which, for a lazy blogger like me, made it an even more attractive choice.

No need to feel like the only ignorant one in the room if you don't know what chipotles are.  I had no idea either and so I went ahead and googled/wiki-ed them before reading the recipe.  And then when I returned to the recipe page on the PPK there was all the info I needed.  Apparently they are "this decade’s sundried tomato" and apparently I have been living under a rock.  :)

A chipotle is a smoked jalapeno.  A jalapeno is a medium sized chilli pepper.  A chilli pepper is a..... No wait, you know what that is right?  Dear husband and I really enjoyed the smokey flavor and aroma.

I only made two teensy changes to the recipe.  I used two tins of beans (instead of one) and, as usual, I reduced the salt to suit my un-Americanised taste buds.   Here is a snap of how it turned out.

This is the first time I have been brave enough to follow a recipe that calls for brussel sprouts.  As a kid brussel sprouts were the most poisonous food on earth (closely followed by liquorice and liver - shudder) and were used in childhood oaths between my sibblings and I, eg, "Honest, really, if I am lying I will eat a whole truck load of brussel sprouts and liver!"  I never thought I would grow up to be one of those adults who actually eats brussel sprouts by choice. 

I found chipotles at my local shopping village at Passione Gormet Deli.  They had dried chipotle and chipotle in tins in adobo sauce.  They also had lots of other cool stuff including the creamiest, most yummiest, most delicious ever hummus.  (Note to self - it is high time you started making your own hummus).  The owner (at least I think he as the owner) was very helpful.  I asked if he stocked any vegan cheese or chocolate.  Apparently he did stock it at first but there wasn't enough demand.  I will have to see what I can do about that!

Pinto beans were a little trickier.  For the second time this year I found myself standing in the shop using my iphone to google "x beans are also known as".  I used borlotti beans which seemed to be the closest thing to pinto beans available at my local IGA.  I need to find a shop near my house that sells a wider range of beans.  I went on a wild goose chase today looking for black beans - but more about that in my next blog post.

Anyone have a fantastic hummus recipe they want to share?  I have been looking at lots this week and can't decide which one to try so I would love a recommendation.

Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits

For my first new vegan recipe for the year I had a flick through Veganomicon by the Post Punk Kitchen crew.  It is such a great book filled with so many delicious sounding recipes that it was hard to chose.  I have book marked lots more recipes for future vegan cooking adventures.

I chose Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits.  Probably because the name caught my eye.  Cassoulet with biscuits!  ~ Insert giggle ~ Because "biscuits" are sweet cookies in Australia, and who has ever heard of a Cassoulet?  Well, probably you have, but it was a new word to me.  According to Wikipedia (that perfectly reliable and thorough information source) a Cassoulet is a slow cooked bean stew from the South of France containing white haricot beans.

So I guess we can just say I cooked a Bean Stew with Dumplings.

Verdict: satisfying, homely and nutritious.  Not exactly a "knock your socks off" kind of dish but a good base recipe that you could easily modify by changing the veggies/legumes/seasonings to suit your taste buds.  It would also be a great recipe to use up any veggies getting close to their "best before: date that you can find lurking in the bottom of most peoples fridges and veggie boxes.

I was hoping that the recipe would be on the Post Punk Kitchen website so I could just link you to it but no such luck.  However this recipe on the site for Dilly Stew with Rosemary Dumplings is kinda similar. 

I stuck to the recipe pretty closely as it is the first time I have made a Cassoulet with Biscuits (giggle again - yes I am that childish).  The only changes I made were to leave out the salt, add a few extra peas and carrots, and just before putting it in the oven I added another can of beans as it seemed a little light on for beans.  I had only bought one tin of white beans so the second tin were kidney beans - which added a little colour so I was pretty happy with the outcome.

 
The dumplings are very similar to the damper I sometimes make when we have soup.  You can find the recipe here.  I love adding herbs to my damper and I think that adding a little chopped fresh herbs to these dumplings would be great too.

Dear husband and I drizzled some truffle oil on top of our stew.  Mm mm mmmmmm!  Thanks mum for buying it for us!

Below is the recipe for this stew and dumplings with my additions.  It might look a little long but it is really pretty simple to make..  I will definitely be making this recipe again and tweaking it each time.  I think it can be used as a very versatile base from which you can let your creative energies be guided by the whims of your taste buds.

Stew Ingredients
2 potatoes, cut into small pieces, boiled until not quite soft and drained.
3 cups veggie stock
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons oil
2 leeks, thinly sliced (~ 2 cups)
1 small onion, medium diced
2 cups diced carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping tablespoon copped fresh thyme
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup frozen peas
2 cans beans, drained and rinsed (I used white beans and kidney beans, but I think butter beans would be really nice too)

Dumpling Ingredients
¾ cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1½ cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegan margarine or shortening

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220^oC (425^oF).
2. If you have not already boiled you potatoes do so now.
3. Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside.
4. Mix the cornstarch into the stock and set aside.
5. If you have an oven proof skillet - use it.  If not use your soup pan.  Saute the leeks, onion and carrots in the oil over a medium heat until soft and just beginning to brown - about 10 minutes.
6. Add the garlic, thyme and pepper and cook for 1 more minute.
7. Add the potatoes, peas and stock mixture.
8. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat and leave gently simmering while you make the dumplings.
9. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
10. Cut the margarine into the flour and then mix with your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs.
11. Add the soy milk and mix with a fork until it is just combined.
12. Gently knee the dough about 10 times with floured hands - just do it in the bowl, no need to mess up your kitchen bench any more than you already have.
13. Add the beans to the stew. If you have not used a skillet it is time to transfer your stew to an oven proof casserole dish.
14. Break off chunks of the dumpling mix and form roughly into golf sized balls.  Drop on top of the stew about an inch apart.
15. Bake for 15 minutes until just slightly browned.
16. Use a large serving spoon to ladle into bowls taking care to have the dumpling on top.

Before and after baking.

Carrot Curry Puffs

The Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge # 3 - Carrots & Oats!  What a great idea.  I just had to wrap my creation in puff pastry because I am pretty sure that just about anything can be improved by wrapping it in puff pastry.  I am just such a classy girl like that  :)

Ingredients
2 cups cooked, mashed carrot and pumpkin
(I used 2 large carrots and a chunk of pumpkin which came to a total of 500gm of raw veggies)
300mg silken tofu, also mashed
1 tablespoon oil (I used peanut oil)
1 medium sized onion chopped very finely
1 small garlic clove crushed
1/2 teaspoon finely grated ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder (more or less depending on your taste buds)

3 sheets of puff pastry
A little soy milk or oil to brush the tops with
Poppy seeds to decorate

Method
1. Prepare mashed carrot and pumpkin (if you haven't already)
2. Preheat oven to hot (220oC).  Line a tray with baking paper.
3. Lay the 3 sheets of puff pastry out to soften.
4. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until translucent.
5. Add the ginger and curry powder and fry for a couple of minutes.
6. Combine the mashed veggies, tofu and onion mixture.
7. Cut the puff pastry sheets into halves.  You will now have 6 rectangles.
8. Make a "log" of the mixture along each rectangle.
9. Roll the pastry over the log.  Carefully cut into desired size.  I like party sized rolls so I cut each log into 5 pieces yielding 30 rolls in total.  (At this point you can store some rolls in the freezer for later.  Make sure you separate the rolls - the plastic sheets that come in the packet to separate each sheet of puff pastry work really well.)
10. Place on the tray with the "join" underneath.  Brush with a little soy milk or oil.  Sprinkle a few poppy seeds on top.
11.  Bake for about 25 minutes - until the pastry is golden and the yummy aroma seeps out of the oven.

A selection of Vegan Puffs.  Yummy!

Well, I now have 3 recipes for vegan puffs, or rolls, or savouries, or whatever you want to call them.   But you will have to come back another day for the other recipes.  They keep really well in the freezer.  Just defrost for 15+ minutes (while the oven preheats).  If I am serving more than one kind at once I make sure I decorate the rolls with different seeds so that people know which one to reach for when they come back for seconds.  And they will come back for seconds.  Serve with dipping bowls of tomato sauce (for true Aussie flavour), chilli sauce, and any other personal favorite sauce.

Iron Chef Challenge: Chickpea, Ginger and Peanut Curry

Here is my response to the Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge #1.  The challenge was to come up with an original recipe using chick peas.

Before I present my offering - a disclaimer.  I had been planning to make Ginger Peanut Soup for dinner tonight.  It is a fabulous recipe that a friend gave me recently (thanks Sarah!) and we love it.  Not wanting to miss out on the Iron Chef fun I decided to mod the recipe, including of course, adding the all important chick peas.

So my recipe is not really one that I have created from scratch.  I did adjust the amounts of some of the ingredients and I added potatoes, coriander, a little lemon, coconut milk and of course chickpeas.  Will this be acceptable for the challenge or am I disqualified?

Challenge aside, the result was a delicious, creamy, satisfying, multicultural, soupy curry.  We had it on its own, however you could serve it with rice, naan or even couscous if you wanted to. 

Ingredients
3 tablespoons oil (I used peanut oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
2 potatoes, diced
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups cauliflower, divided into small florets
2 cups broccoli, divided into small florets
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas
2 cups vegetable stock
⅓ cup natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
½ cup coconut milk
Squeeze of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
1. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger, potatoes and cayenne pepper in the oil for ~ 10 minutes.
2. Add the cauilflower, broccoli, tomatoes, chickpeas, stock, peanut butter and coriander.  Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
3. Add the coconut milk and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk.

Day 19 - Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry

Last nights dinner was made from a recipe in Veganomicon.  Such a great recipe book!  So grateful to my friend for leaving her vegan books with me while she is on the other side of the world.

Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry. 

This was not difficult to make.  The only changes I made to the recipe was to leave out the 1.5 teaspoons of salt and add 2 cloves of garlic (we like garlic).  The recipe says "Partially cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender but not completely falling apart."  And then you turn the heat off and let it stand for 15 minutes with the lid on.  Unfortunately by that time my cauliflower was starting to fall apart so next time I will be turn the heat off a little earlier.

The recipe is not on the Post Punk Kitchen web site.  Isa and Terry are very generous with putting their recipes on line, but we can't expect them all to be there I guess.  Someone has submitted a version of the recipe here on Spark Recipes if you want to try it.  If you leave out the carrot and use a large parsnip instead you will be pretty close to the Veganomicon recipe.

I love making curries like this that keep so well in the fridge for a few days.  So great to have such a healthy, delicious lunch to take to work the next day!

Day 17 - Pumpkin Soup.

When it comes to pumpkin soup I like to keep it simple.  No fancy ingredients or exotic flavor influences.  Just pure, unadulterated, thick, creamy pumpkin goodness. 

Okay, maybe just a sprinkle of nutmeg.  But nothing else.

And, as you can see from the pictures, I like it thick.  Very thick.

Most of you can probably make pumpkin soup perfectly well without a recipe.  But here is my offering to the cyberspace catalogue of soup recipes just because I would rather type it up than go and tidy up my messy house. 

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons margarine (but you could use oil)
Approx 1kg of chopped up pumpkin
(I started with 1.2kg and ended up with just under 1kg)
2 cups stock
2 cups water
1 cup soy milk (a creamy one - don't spoil it with a low fat one).

Method:
1.  Saute the onion and garlic in the margarine over a medium for about 5 minutes
2. Add the pumpkin, stock and water.  Simmer with the lid on loosely for about 25 minutes, until the pumpkin is super soft and falling apart.
3.  Allow the soup to cool a little then use a stick blender to blend the soup until very smooth.  The mix will almost resemble pumpkin puree at this stage.  (You can process the soup in batches in a blender if you have the misfortune of not owning a stick blender).
4.  Add the soy milk and stir.  If it is too cool gently reheat over a low heat while stirring frequently. If it is too thick for your liking then add a little more soymilk, water or stock until it suits you perfectly.
5.  Serve with a sprinkling of nutmeg or pepper and fresh bread (multi-grain or wholemeal of course).

Day 15 - Creamy Vegan Pasta

Yes! Creamy + vegan + pasta can exist together harmoniously.

Necessity is the mother of invention apparently.  I have been craving pasta in a creamy soul-satisfying pasta sauce.  I knew what I wanted the finished product to be like but couldn't find a recipe that seemed to offer what I was wanting.  So I got to a bit creative in the kitchen and came up with this. 

I used the pinenut + tofu combo from PPK's moussaka as inspiration and it all came together very nicely from there.  Dear husband and I agreed that it was delicious!  And much more satisfying and creamy than we were expecting.

Below are directions for the pasta I cooked last night.  I will be making this again and I have a few variations in mind that I am keen to try out.  I have a feeling it is a recipe that I will come back to and mod until it reaches unparallelled perfection, (or something like that).

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Splash of oil
100gm sundried tomatoes
1 cup white wine
1 teaspoon veggie stock powder (alternatively you could use ~ ½ cup stock and little less wine)
200gm broccoli florets
200gm mushrooms (I plan to use more mushrooms next time)
300gm silken tofu
½ cup pinenuts
½ cup soymilk
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1 teaspoon of sugar or corn syrup if your tofu has a sourish tast
Optional: A drizzle of truffle oil to serve takes this dish to new heights!

Directions:
1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil over a medium heat.  I used the oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes because it is so flavorsome and it is much better than wasting it.
2.  Add the sundried tomatoes, wine, stock and broccoli.  Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes until the broccoli starts to soften.
3. Put the pasta on to boil
4. Whiz the tofu and pinenuts in a food processor until smooth.  Add the soymilk and process again.  Taste the mix - it should have a creamy texture, if it is sour to your taste buds then add a little sugar and whiz again to mix through.
5. Add the mushrooms to the fry pan and simmer for a couple of minutes.  Adjust the time depending on what kind of mushrooms you are using.   I used 100gm oyster mushrooms and 100gm enoki mushrooms because I am fancy like that (and a wonderful little fruit and veg shop opened next to my work recently and they have lots of lovely mushrooms).
6. Reduce the heat to low, add the tofu mixture, stir constantly and heat gently until warmed through.
7. Drain the pasta and add to the fry pan.  Mix it all together and then serve immediately.

This amount would easily serve 4 people.  Meaning dear husband and I had yummy left overs for lunch today.  I didn't even bother to reheat mine and it was delicious as a kind of cold pasta salad.  

I have seen a few vegan pasta recipes that use avocado for creaminess which sound yummy.  Anyone have any creamy vegan pasta recipes that they would recommend I try?

PS - I just passed the halfway mark of 30 Day Blog September!

Day 10 - Nut Roast

I love nut roast!  I started making nut roast years ago as a vegetarian friendly meal and gradually perfected my recipe.  Unfortunately it relied pretty heavily on eggs and cheese.  So I have been working on a new vegan friendly version.   It has taken a few trial runs (which were all great but not perfect) but I can now say I make a pretty mean Vegan Nut Roast!

Nut Roast has a fabulous texture.

Team it with some vegetables that have been roasted to caramelized delightfulness, gravy and a variety of steamed veggies, and your taste buds will be in heaven.

Look at that cheeky pea that has jumped in the corn and spoiled my presentation!

Here is the recipe for my nut roast.  It doesn't take too long to make and you will be well rewarded for your efforts.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 largish onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried thyme or couple sprigs fresh thyme
250gm mushrooms, finely chopped
2½ cups raw nuts.  I use approximately 1 cup Brazil Nuts, 1 cup Cashews, ½ cup Almonds
1 cup bread crumbs
300gm silken tofu (optional)
½ cup veggie stock (increase to ~1 cup if you leave out the tofu)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.  (If you are making roast veggies as well I suggest you get them started straight away so they can get nice and roasty!  Some fresh rosemary won't go astray in your veggie roasting pan.)
2. Grease and/or line your loaf tin.
3. Fry the onions over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and fry for a few more minutes until the onions are starting to brown.
4. Add the mushrooms and thyme and fry for about 5 minutes.
5. Process the nuts in a food processor until they are close to bread crumbs.  A few bigger bits will add a nice texture so don't over process.
6. Empty the nuts into a large bowl.  Then use the food processor to whiz the silken tofu until it is soft and creamy.
7. Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl.
8. Fill the loaf tin with the mixture and press down firmly.   Smooth the top.
9. Bake at 200°C for 50minutes.
10.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.  If you try slicing it up to soon it will just crumble.
11.  Delicious served with roast veggies, steamed veggies and gravy.  Also super delicious the next day in a sandwich with tomato sauce, or mustard, avocado and salad.

You can make up a couple of loaves at once.  Freeze the uncooked Nut Roast in a loaf tin.  When it is frozen you can remove it from the loaf tin if you need the tin for something else.  When you are in the mood for Nut Roast just remove it from the freezer, allow to defrost overnight in the fridge or ~ 6 hours on the kitchen bench.  Then bake as per step 9.

The tofu is not essential for flavor but I think it makes the loaf much nicer.  It keeps the loaf moist and helps bind it together so that it doesn't crumble too much. 

Nut Roast is perfect for dinner parties, and most meat eaters will enjoy it too!

Day 5 - Herb Damper and Lovely Left-overs

I love left overs!  Last night we had a yummy dinner of left overs, spruced up with Herb Damper fresh from the oven.

Cut a little x in the top of each damper roll and brush with milk before baking.

Wish you could smell this delicious just-out-of-the-oven herb damper.

We had left over Creamy Broccoli Soup from last night, and Stuffed Capsicum left over from dinner at my mum's house 2 nights ago.  Thanks mum!

Dinner is served.  It was delicious!

We didn't eat all the damper rolls between the two of us.  I took one to work for lunch today and reheated it for 20 seconds in the microwave to have with my bowl of Broccoli Soup.  It was okay but nothing beats hot damper fresh from the oven.

Damper recipe:
Ingredients:
3 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons herbs, can be dried or fresh eg thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, basil
100gm margarine melted
1 cup soy milk
a little extra soy milk for glazing

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 210oC.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together.  Form a well in the centre.
3. Mix the milk and margarine together.  Pour into the well.  Mix with a knife until it just comes together.
4. Form into rolls.  I like to make 8 but you can make them bigger or smaller.  They don't need to be neat - remember this is damper, not french pastries.
5. Score an X into the top of each damper with a sharp knife.
6. Brush with a little soy milk.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes, longer or shorter depending on how soft vs crusty you want them.
8. Serve immediately.

Note:  You can wrap half of the mix in glad wrap and refrigerate to cook fresh the next night if you wish. 

These are also very nice made as sweet damper.  Leave out the herbs, use less salt (half a teaspoon) and more sugar (1 tablespoon).  Serve hot with margarine and golden syrup or jam.  Mmmmm.  I think we might need some dessert tonight!

Day 4 - Creamy Broccoli Soup

Yesterday I had a craving for creamy soup.  This broccoli soup fits that category surprisingly well.  There are only a few ingredients so the preparation time is very quick.  But it does take a little while to boil, all the while filling the kitchen with tantalizing aromas that make me feel hungrier and hungrier while I wait.

Admittedly the soup does look a bit like an unappetizing green gloop.  It reminds me of something you might have seen on "You can't do that on Television".  But despite appearances it really is scrumptious.  Or, as my husband said, "delicious and nutritious!"

The soup is not very high in protein.  So I served it with some multigrain bread rolls, warmed a little in the oven, to the make the meal more balanced. 

I have tried a few broccoli soup recipes and over time have arrived at my own version.  It makes a big pot so no prizes for guessing what we will be having for dinner tonight.

Here is my recipe.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegan margarine (or you could use oil)
1 Onion finely chopped
3 Cloves of garlic crushed of finely chopped
2 large potatoes cut into ~ 2cm cubes
2 large heads of broccoli (or 3 small) - you can use the florets and some of the stems
2L of fluid, you can use all vegetable stock or substitute some for water depending on how salty/flavorsome you want it.  If you use powdered stock (as I do) you can start of with just a little and adjust the flavor just before blending.
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup soy milk - I recommend a creamy variety eg Vitasoy for this

Method
1. Saute the onion in the margarine or oil for 3 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, potatoes, broccoli and herbs.
4. Boil over medium heat for about 30 minutes until the veggies are mushy.
5. Take the soup off the head and use a stick blender to blend the soup.  You can leave it a bit chunky or make it very smooth.  If you want it really smooth transfer it to a blender in batches but really this is just too messy and time consuming for my liking.  Anyway, I like the soup with a little texture still.
6. Add the soy milk.  I find this usually brings the soup to a nice serving temperature.  However, if you want, you can heat the soup gently reheated over a low heat but remember to stir it.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg if you wish but don't overdo the nutmeg or it will overpower the wonderful broccoli flavor.

Day 1: Veggie Burgers and Wedges

So it is actually Day 2 of 30 Day Blog September but I am about to tell you what I had for dinner last night.  And that is how this is going to work.  Because that is easier for me, and hey, why make this harder for myself than it has to be?  So if you want to know what I am having for dinner tonight you will have to come back tomorrow.  Glad we got that sorted.

Last night I was in a photo taking mood and so here is last nights dinner in great detail.

Mix together 1 cup of bean burger mix with about half a cup of water and 1/2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce.  Set aside to allow the beans to soften.  Recipe here: Best Bean Burgers

Slice the potatoes into quarters, then each quarter into 2-3 wedges.

 

Shake the potatoes in a bag (old bread bags are perfect for this) with 1-2 tablespoons of oil and any seasoning that takes your fancy.  I used a garlic infused oil that my lovely mother bought me at a food festival last year, and about a tablespoon of "bush spice" that was in a spice rack that my lovely sister gave me.

  

Place the wedges in a single layer on a baking tray.  Bake for 35-45 minutes at 220oC, depending on how crunchy you like your wedges.  Turn once about half way through cooking. 

Prepare your fillings.  I used beetroot, pickles, carrot, avocado, mushrooms and lettuce.  

 

The yummy rye bread rolls I bought were square.  Which is no problem for homemade burgers - just shape the patties to match the size and shape of your rolls.  I always shape mine on a plate and then use an egg flip to transfer it to the frying pan.

 The burgers where fried in a splash of oil with the mushrooms.  It is important to cover with a lid while frying to catch the steam which helps the burgers to cook.  No-one wants to bite into a too-crunchy soybean.

 

I prepared the buns with spreads (mustard, avocado, tomato sauce), beetroot and pickles while the burgers were frying.  And then I put this into the oven for a few minutes which warms them up nicely.

 

5 minutes on each side - perfect!

 

Assembled and ready to serve!

 

A sneak peak inside my burger.  Quite a tower!

Mmm for Moussaka

I have been making a very special layered eggplant dish for years from Alison Holst's Meals without Meat.  I have plans to veganize it.  But for now, whenever I have a yearning for a layered eggplant extravaganza I have a go-to recipe that I found in Veganomicon.  I just love saying the name of that book.  Veganomicon.  Nom, nom, nom!

Happily, here is the recipe on the Post Punk Kitchen Website: Eggplant Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream.   So you too can bake this wonderful dish.  Thanks PPK for being so generous with your recipes on line.

This is not one of those throw together for a quick dinner kind of recipe.  It is a little fiddly.  But it is well worth the effort.  And, if there is just two of you in the house, like me and dear husband, then you will have instant dinner for the next night or two.  It reheated pretty well in the microwave.

The Pine Nut Cream really is fantastic!! Although I will be very, very careful with the salt next time.  The recipe calls for "1 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste."  I thought I would start a bit lower and so added ~ 3/4 teaspoon and it was still a bit too salty for us.  But once that salt has hit the food processor there is no undoing it.  So I suggest starting with even less, I think 1/4-1/2 teaspoon will probably do the trick for me next time.  Is that American taste buds like salt more than we Aussies do?  I often find I have to reduce the salt a bit when cooking from an American cook book. If anyone else has made this (or ever gets around to making it) I would like to hear how much salt you added "to taste".

Apparently the extra pine nuts for garnishing are "optional", but personally, I strongly recommend a generous handful of pine nuts on top.  They toast to perfection while the dish bakes. 

Will I make this again?  Definitely!

Porcini Mushroom Stroganoff

I have been having a great time with my friend's vegan cookbooks.  I have tried quite a few recipes and most have been very successful.  One recipe was so divinely, deliciously, delectable that immediately after eating it I e-mailed the publisher for permission to print the recipe exactly from the book.  And, much to my surprise, I received a couple of lovely e-mails back and then this:

"We are pleased to grant this permission free of charge.  Please be sure to credit title, author, and publisher." 

Hooray!!  So here it is:

The recipe: Porcini Mushroom Stroganoff

The book: The Candle Cafe Cookbook

The authors: Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza with Barbara Scott-Goodman

The publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers New York, 2003

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unbleached flour
2 tablespoons soy margarine
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
1 pound button mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup soy milk
Pinch of dried parsley
Pinch of dried dill
1 thyme sprig
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives
1 pound fettuccine

Method
1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil.  Stir in the flour and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the soy margarine, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
2. Add the porcini and button mushrooms, wine, tomato past, and soy milk.  Stir in the parsley, dill, thyme bay leaf and chives.  Bring to the boil, then simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
3. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the fettuccine according to package directions.  Drain.
4. Spoon the sauce over the fettuccine and serve at once.

The only intentional change I made was to use considerably less pepper than the 1 tablespoon called for in the recipe.

 

If you look at my pictures you may notice that I used button mushrooms and field mushrooms.  How did this come about?  Well, I quickly scribbled down 2 pounds porcine mushrooms and 1 pound button mushrooms on my shopping list and headed for the shops.  I had somehow managed to complete miss that the porcine mushrooms were supposed to be dried, and that the recipe called for 2 ounces, not 2 pounds!  

The Fruit and Veggie store that I usually go to was all out of fancy mushrooms.  And there were none to be had in the other Fruit and Veg store and 2 supermarkets that I went to.  So instead I bought 2 pounds of button mushrooms and 1 pound of field mushrooms.  The result was an amazingly delicious Stroganoff that delighted us.  I only realized my mistake when I made it again last weekend and was re-reading the recipe.  Well never mind because, fortunately my mistake didn't stuff it up.

The second time I made it I noticed a very slight after taste that I have detected if I overheat soy milk when I make Soy Hot Chocolate.   I think I had the pan too hot when I added the soy milk and so I will be carefully not to make that mistake next time.  Because, oh yes, there will definitely be a next time!

I am guessing that using the dried mushrooms would result in a less runny sauce and I am going to try making it the "official" way soon.  I will let you know how that turns out.

I have also found a Stroganoff recipie in Vegan with a Vengeance.  The recipe is quite different and includes Seitan and sounds a little more complicated.  I will get around to making that one day too, and it will be interesting to compare the results.

Best Burgers - Seriously!

Everyone loves burgers right?  I sure do.  And these burgers really are the best.  And by best I mean delicious, nutritious, satisfying, versatile and very easy to make.   I think that even die-hard meat eaters will love these, especially if you don't mention they contain soya beans and chick peas!  They really are tasty and the texture is just perfect.

I have the wonderful Dame Alison Holst and son to thank again for this one!  I have made just a few changes to the original recipe found in "Meals Without Meat".  Unfortunately this fantastic cook book is currently out of print.  I got my copy in a dusty second hand book shop in Christchurch a few years ago and have baked many delicious dinners from it.

Vegan Best Bean Burgers

Makes 8-12 depending on the size.

Ingredients:

½ cup (80gm) chick peas

½ cup (75gm) soybeans

½ cup (60gm)sunflower kernels
½ cup (35gm)rolled oats

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

¼ flour

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon salt

About 1 cup water

1½ tablespoons sweet/dark soya sauce (30ml)

2 cloves crushed garlic

Optional - ½ onion very finely chopped

Oil to cooking them in

Method

1. Use a food processor, or blender, or coffee grinder to grind the first 4 ingredients to the consistency of dry bread crumbs.  Depending on the machine you use, it will probably be best to do a little at a time.  I found that my blender worked best, especially on the "ice" setting.  The chickpeas and soyabeans do take a bit of grinding (and therefore noise making).  Process the oats just a little - not too fine (or you could just use quick oats instead). 

2. Mix together all the dry ingredients.  It comes to about 3 cups of dry ingredients.

3. Add most of the water, soya sauce, garlic and onion if you are using it.   If the mixture doesn't come together easily then add a little more water.

4. Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes.

5. Shape into burgers.

6. Generously coat a fry pan in oil and bring to medium heat.

7. Cook the burgers for 5+ minutes on each side.  It is best to cover the pan with a lid as the steam will ensure that the burgers cook through properly without burning the bottom.

8. Enjoy!

You can prepare these burgers up to step 2 and then store the dry ingredients in an airtight container until required.  So next time I am going to grind up multiple batches worth while I have the blender out so that I can have the burger mix ready to go for quick and easy dinners.

Also, I only cooked 4 burgers the first night and then cooked the rest fresh the next night.  The mixture held together even better when it had soaked over night.  We had the burgers with jacket potatoes and other veggies the first night.  And then we had them as "burgers" in buns with lots of salad.  The bean burgers worked really well for both these meals.

If you use onion it really does have to be chopped finely.  The onion is weakest link in the binding of these burgers.  So leave the onion out if you will find it distressing to have a little piece crumble off.  I think I would leave the onion out if I was taking these burgers to a BBQ so I wouldn't have to worry about a heavy handed burger flipper possibly damaging my creations.

The original recipe calls for pea flour.  Pea flour!!  Certainly not at my local supermarket.  But a sweet lady at my local organic store kindly ground up some split peas to flour consistency.  I think the pea flour does add to the flavour but don't worry if you can't get it - the burgers will still be wonderful with regular flour.